I am setting up a new Kimber Mountain Ascent in 7mm mag.Light rifle and I am looking to go with a lighter weight scope. Under 30oz.20-25x powerFFP50mm+ Good glass of course.

I've been looking thru NSX scopes for several years and love them all, just not the weight for this rifle.So,I like Leupold VX series. New ones seem better than ever.Have looked thru Vortex and impressed with glass and function. Value for what looks like a great scope.Swarovski is awesome, but I've no experience with them.Zeiss - great glass but no knowledge of them.Huskemaw- no knowledge of anyone who has one.Want to stay under $2k

I have a short window of opportunity as my birthday is coming up and I told my wife I wanted to buy a new scope.Her response was "sure, whatever....get what you want". That is wife code for - buy a scope soon before she realizes what she just said.

You have a different definition of a lightweight scope than I do, but that's okay.

I would assume this is going to be a hunting rifle, not a target rifle? It depends of course on how and where you hunt, and you personal hunting style, but for a lightweight rig I personally wouldn't be looking for FFP, 20-25 power, 50mm.

Now based on tge scopes you're interested in, I assume you dial for elevation, the Leupold VX-5 and VX-6 both come with a very usable 2 rotation elevation turret that woukd foot the bill. I've used a VX-5 2-10×42, but my only experience with the VX-6 was with the older model with capped turrets. Both of these scopes fall within you price range, and the VX-5HD is under $1k for 3-15 power.

I believe that Nightforce has exposed elevation turrets on their SHV hunting model which comes in 4-14×50 and 5-20×something if I recall correctly. I have never handled one of these outside of a store though.

Swarovski has dialable hunting models of course, their Z5 comes in 3.5-18×44 and 5-25×50. I have not owned one of these scopes, amd their turret is a bit gimmicky in that it has 4 colour coded dials that you an set 4 seperate zeros on, and dial between this for quixk adjustment in the field. Strictly a hunting setup, but it preempts the need for a ballistic calculator, get your range, and dial to the closest pin I suppose.

The Swarovski Z5 is a 1" scope, and has limites elevation, but it's a hunting scope and designed as such. I personally don't find them the very easiest to acquire a sight picture with, but perhaps that's just me. The 30mm Swaros go up in price, and are pure hunting scopes in my opinion, they add features like illumination, and are reputed tonhave first rate optics.

I use a couple of the now discontinued Leica ERi 2.5-10×42 illuminated scopes with exposed turret. These are very nice scopes to getan easy sight picture with, and the ezposed turret locks, and is in 1cm scale, not MOA. It has about 90 cents (approx. 30 MOA) of elevation in the dial which is limited to a single rotation. Also, Leica has rebranded the ERi series as Visus, and doesn't export the Visus to the US with an elevation dial. The Visus tops out in a 3-12×50 configuration, it's a hunting scope, not a target or tactical scope.

Zeiss has revamped their lineup as of this year, and I actually think that out of the hunting scopes, the Zeiss Conquest V4 would appeal to your tastes the most. It comes in a 4-16×44 and 6-24×50 setup with exposed elevation turret in MOA with zero stop and multi rotation (like a true target turret) and has something like 80-100 MOA of elevation depending on the model. This scope retails for less than $1,000, and I played with a couple of these yesterday, but there's not a lot of track record on these yet.

There's also the Zeiss Conquest V6, similar setup, but made in Germany, (V4 is from Japan) and with some different configurations at roughly double the price.

I'm not recommending these scopes, but they seemed well built, and easy to get eye behind. Very difficult to have an opinion on the optical quality from gun store only.

I'm really a hunter, not a target guy, and definitely not a tactical guy, so that covers my knowledge of dialable hunting scopes that I can offer any kind of opinion on.

I'm seriously considering trying a Zeiss V4 for my 6.5 Creedmoor though, would be a crossover type scope for me to start playing with out to 800m, which is max at my range.

Sakoshooter,Thanks for the reply. Very thorough and appreciated.I should have added a little more info.Hunting rifle for longer excursions into coulees and draws. 2-4 miles in sometimes. Stalking mostly and very little tree stand hunting.Deer, elk, black bear.Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Washington. Generally shooting from 200-600 yards at game. (Conditions always dictating shot of course.)Mule deer in Montana often times are out there a ways. Last year was 435. Right tools, right conditions, enough practice. Yes, I do dial for range and enjoy target shooting to 1000+ yards with several rifles. Practice and compete at 600-1,000 regularly.

In the past 5 decades of hunting, I have mostly built my own 700 Rems and have settled in on .300RUM as the go-to. NF NXS 5.5 - 22 has been the optic of choice. Great setup that never lets me down and shoots better than I probably can, but weighs in at 11 lbs empty. Damn thing seems to get heavier every year and my goal is lbs lighter, but with equal optics.Love NF scopes, just want to get that performance in half the weight. I prefer a higher power when I don't have a spotting scope with me. I've had too many occasions spending hours stalking

I'm glad you mentioned the new Zeiss V6. That was one that a buddy has been pretty hot on. Great reports so far. Looks promising for what I want to do.Thanks

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I almost never compliment Leupold... but I really like their VX-5HD 3-15 illuminated. It has great mechanicals and impressive glass. Appears to have some real design work executed. It is not the lightest scope out there, but for the price and quality it is definitely one of the lightest. The only Leupold scope I've purchased in 20 years is the VX HOG (and I really like it... tough, reliable, gets the job done...and what is not to like about a reticle that has PIG PLEX written on it). I'm considering (I'll hate myself in the morning) purchasing one of these. I've been "kind of OK" with a number of more recent Leupold offerings, but this one has a lot going for it. Plus, the price is reasonable.

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